If
Brookfield native Alex Wehrley seems at home in front of the camera,
it’s probably because she’s been there most of her life. Today,
the television personality steps into the spotlight at events like the
Country Music Association Awards, where she interviews stars on the
red carpet.

"I started
modeling for Kohl’s Department Stores when I was 9 years old,"
she says. "That gave me my first taste of enjoying an
audience."

She went on to
perform with Accent On Dance in Waukesha and the Brookfield East High
School Spartanettes dance team, where, Wehrley says, she found her
best friends.

At UW-Madison,
Wehrley majored in communication arts, interned at the Madison NBC-TV
affiliate and took in all the Capitol City had to offer. "I love
the campus, it’s so beautiful," she says. "My favorite
thing to do was hang out on the Union Terrace, overlooking the lake,
listening to live music."

Wehrley says she
was born with the "performance gene," so as she watched a
Miss USA pageant on TV, she decided to use the skills she’d already
developed to become a 2009 pageant contestant.

"It was an
incredible experience, and it’s very unique for a 21-year-old,
especially since I didn’t grow up with pageants," she says. She
was crowned Miss Wisconsin USA and advanced to the national
competition at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Shortly
after the pageant, Wehrley took on morning anchor duties at the NBC-TV
affiliate in Rockford, Ill. She moved on to host a talk show in
Oklahoma City before joining a nationally syndicated morning show in
Dallas. But her biggest step forward was her decision to strike out on
her own as a freelancer in Los Angeles. She says she and her fiance,
who is from Elm Grove, "were just ready to take our careers to a
new level."

Wehrley has been
working as a freelance host for the cable news network E! News Now and
doing red carpet interviews for ABC Digital and Yahoo.

"The more
you interview celebrities, the more you realize that they’re just
like us. At the end of the day, they’re extremely relatable,"
she says.

A
lifelong country music fan, Wehrley says working at the CMA Awards was
a high point of her career.

"Talking to
these country musicians and then sprinkle in some chaos, it was just a
thrill. There’s a certain culture in country where people have some
depth to them and they’re great storytellers," she says.

Wehrley now has
her sights set on joining a "big national show," and she is
also pursuing an acting career. She recently landed a speaking part in
the movie "Rudderless," a musical drama directed by Bill
Macy.

"For the
first time, I feel like I have creative control over my career,"
she says. "I love the people who aren’t afraid to fail, because
before you succeed you’re definitely going to fail a couple of
times. But if you stick with it, you’re definitely going to fulfill
your vision."

At the moment,
she is looking ahead to her May wedding at the Oconomowoc Lake Club.
Planning a wedding long-distance isn’t easy, she says, "but
thank goodness for Mom."